Re: [school-discuss] Students "hacking"

[Matt Rowland <matt@paperlove.org>]

On Thu, Apr 25, 2002 at 01:57:18PM -0500, Kyle Hutson wrote:
> Background:
> I have a Jr. High student who has several "how to hack" files. They
> are very outdated and will most likely get him caught on the first
> attempt if he tried to use anything out of them (mostly phone
> phreaking, and modem wardialers).
> 
> Question:
> I'm inclined to let him know that I've seen what he's doing and
> offer to help him if he really wants to learn to hack - introduce
> him to linux and some Perl and C (I'm quite positive he's never used
> anything but Win9x). Is this wise? On one hand, if he doesn't get
> caught, I would hate to be responsible for enabling another 5kr1p7
> k1dd13. On the other, he could become one anyway. Anybody dealt with
> this issue before? Any sage advice?

Sounds like a *great* idea to me. I think that's an underrepresented
benefit of open source software in schools -- the attraction to a
malicious dark side can be sidetracked into something productive. I'm
sure it would have had an impact on me in junior high if I'd been able
to dig into the code behind some of the cool things I saw on the computer.
Instead, I'd get bored, and on one occasion, with my one geeky
friend, replaced the 'boot' file for some Commodore 64 game with a BASIC
program that would just re-format the floppy.

Considering the age and the impact of peer approval at that age, it
also might not be a bad idea to try to show him how script
kiddies are viewed by 'the rest of us' to drive home the point that
such antics don't compare to the satisfaction or reward that can come
from writing something useful to others. Perhaps you should direct
your effort there first, *then* mention that in the open source world,
he *could* be contributing to significant projects that could be helpful
to people all over the world...and see if his ears perk up.

Matt
-- 
http://www.paperlove.org/  :..: [being redesigned] :..:  matt@paperlove.org
Linux/Open Source Advocate:..:Consultant:..:Designer:..:Webmaster:..:Artist

PGP signature